The #SaveOurStan campaign – a fundraiser to help get a family to Singapore to give a wonderful little man life-saving treatment for a rare form of Leukaemia – has almost hit the halfway mark in its quest to reach its £500,000 target.
Carlisle lad Stan, a bubbly two-year-old, was diagnosed with T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia in March 2019, and parents Georgia Brecken and Lee Dalton also received the devastating news that treatment for the condition was unavailable in the UK following further tests at the RVI in Newcastle at that time.
The Cumbrian community has since rallied round in a bid to get Stan to Singapore where pioneering and lifesaving treatment can be carried out by doctors, who are specialists in the area.
On a visit to Brunton Park on Wednesday, organised by director of football David Holdsworth, Georgia and Lee spoke about the gratitude the family has for the support they’ve received, with the Just Giving Save Our Stan fund now at just over £236,000.
“The response has been absolutely amazing,” Georgia said. “We can’t say thank you enough to everybody who has donated. The treatment he needs is still in its early stages of development but it’s the only chance we have to save Stan's life, and I think that’s why so many people have got behind it.
“All we can ask is that people keep spreading the message, because quite simply it is all about saving our Stan.”
“It doesn’t matter if it’s one pound or a thousand pounds, the generosity shown by so many people has been fantastic,” Lee said. “When we first set out on this we didn’t think we’d get anywhere near the target because, let’s face it, who has £500,000!!
“But we’re nearly at halfway and, as a family, we just need to say thank you for the efforts and support we’ve had from the people of Carlisle, Cumbria and beyond.”
Stan got to see the dressing rooms as he and his family went on a behind-the-scenes tour of Brunton Park, with David Holdsworth as their VIP tour guide and first team players Nick Anderton, Taylor Charters, Josh Dixon and Aaron Hayden as his special surprise guests.
“They’re such a lovely family and they’re all coping so well with what is a difficult situation,” David said. “It was nice for all of us to get them down here and the players were brilliant with Stan, who was naturally a bit overawed with it all, at times.
"Both grandads are huge fans and it's going to be difficult to get them away, they've enjoyed themselves as much as Stan has!
“We want to help however we can, and going forward we’re looking to involve Stan in our kit launch, and do some other bits and pieces with him.
"Anything we can do to help Stan reach his target will be done, and I just hope that people can keep donating so that we can get him out to Singapore to get this treatment he so vitally needs.”
To donate to help to #SaveOurStan please click HERE.
Watch a video interview about little Stan with David, Georgia and Lee here:
